(Reuters) - The maker of Four Loko has agreed with 20 U.S. state attorneys general and the city of San Francisco to a series of reforms to resolve allegations that it improperly marketed flavored malt beverages to young people and encouraged alcohol abuse. Phusion Projects LLC, which is based in Chicago, agreed not to sell caffeinated alcoholic drinks, agreed not to promote binge drinking or other misuses of alcohol, and accepted marketing limits designed to keep...

(Reuters) - The maker of Four Loko has agreed with 20 U.S. state attorneys general and the city of San Francisco to a series of reforms to resolve allegations that it improperly marketed flavored malt beverages to young people and encouraged alcohol abuse. Phusion Projects LLC, which is based in Chicago, agreed not to sell caffeinated alcoholic drinks, agreed not to promote binge drinking or other misuses of alcohol, and accepted marketing limits designed to keep...

A controversial agreement between the Harold Washington Party and a national brewing company has split the leadership of the political group, with one faction saying it brings a much-needed economic boost to the black community and the other saying it brings nothing but "poison" in the form of malt liquor and increased alcohol dependence. At issue is a "covenant" signed last month by David Reed, chairman of the Harold Washington Party, with the Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Co., makers of Mt....

What it is: Chicago's strong connections to Poland are well known to most of its citizens, but what is not as well known by the general beer drinking population is the variety of great Polish beers that find their way to the welcoming shores of Lake Michigan. Tatra Malt Liquor, brewed by Poland's notable Zywiec brewery, is a fine example of a flavorful "mocne" lager beer. "Mocne" is Polish for strong, and at 7 percent alcohol by volume the malty Tatra packs a winter-warming wallop that is sure to satisfy this...

G. Heileman Brewing Co., under fire from the black community for supposedly planning to market a high-alcohol beverage to blacks, finds itself in trouble with the federal government as well. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which says it mistakenly approved the label for the new beverage, called PowerMaster, said Thursday that it planned to meet with the financially troubled brewer next week to discuss the bureau's demand that Heileman remove "power" from the label.

By Jonathan Stockton, a metromix special contributor | December 14, 2005

Last month, Ald. James Balcer (11th) of Bridgeport briefly made headlines (OK, Page 12) when he proposed banning the sale of 40-ounce beers. His aim? To stop locals from getting bombed on cheap 40-ounce bottles of beer and malt liquor. Balcer's proposal wouldn't just rid liquor stores of Colt 45 and Olde English 800; it would ban the sale of any single can or bottle of beer, ale or malt liquor beverage. "This could really knock out a whole country's beer," says Zemo Holat, member of the Chicago Beer...

By Jonathan Stockton, a metromix special contributor | December 14, 2005

Last month, Ald. James Balcer (11th) of Bridgeport briefly made headlines (OK, Page 12) when he proposed banning the sale of 40-ounce beers. His aim? To stop locals from getting bombed on cheap 40-ounce bottles of beer and malt liquor. Balcer's proposal wouldn't just rid liquor stores of Colt 45 and Olde English 800; it would ban the sale of any single can or bottle of beer, ale or malt liquor beverage. "This could really knock out a whole country's beer," says Zemo Holat, member of the Chicago Beer...

By This page is compiled by Charles M. Madigan and Theresa Walla of the Perspective staff | September 21, 2003

The ounces of malt liquor and beer that prosecutors say Thomas J. Harris, 41, of Chicago, consumed before slamming into a 36-year-old mother of seven as she directed traffic at a construction site last week. Harris allegedly drank a 40-ounce bottle of Coqui 900 malt liquor, a 40-ounce bottle of Old Style and at least one 12-ounce can of Miller Genuine Draft before hitting the woman with his car. He was driving on a revoked license and had four convictions for drunken driving.

By This page is compiled by Charles M. Madigan and Theresa Walla of the Perspective staff | September 21, 2003

The ounces of malt liquor and beer that prosecutors say Thomas J. Harris, 41, of Chicago, consumed before slamming into a 36-year-old mother of seven as she directed traffic at a construction site last week. Harris allegedly drank a 40-ounce bottle of Coqui 900 malt liquor, a 40-ounce bottle of Old Style and at least one 12-ounce can of Miller Genuine Draft before hitting the woman with his car. He was driving on a revoked license and had four convictions for drunken driving.

After chugging malt liquor and smoking pot, Jermaine Mandley was speeding away from police officers Wednesday night when he blew through a red light at 33rd and State Streets, plowing into a car driven by a longtime West Side pastor, authorities said. Both Rev. Charles Shyne Jr., 76, and his wife, Verlena, 72, a retired Chicago Public Schools teacher, were killed. Appearing in court Friday with a white bandage over his left eye, Mandley, a 26-year-old Bolingbrook man who...

Eric Sunlly, 18, of 2041 S. Pine St. was stopped Monday for underage drinking at Apache Park, at Pine Street near Howard Street, and then was charged with possession of eight 2-gram bags of marijuana after a search, police said. Police said they spotted Sunlly drinking a can of malt liquor. He allegedly struggled with officers and attempted to run away but was stopped and searched in the 2100 block of South Pine Street.

Last Wednesday was a big day on Wilson Avenue, the Uptown thoroughfare so notorious for its prostitutes and homeless drunks and scared foreign students dashing into Truman College for English classes. At 5:45 a.m., debris from a demolished liquor store and thrift shop at Wilson and Magnolia Avenue skitters and dances, ribbons of transparent plastic flapping against skinny trees shivering in the cold. A few doors away, the windows at Sheridan Park Foods are dark, the gates shuttered.

Responding to the concerns of liquor store owners, a City Council committee has compromised on new earlier closing hours for packaged liquor sellers. Instead of the proposed 10 p.m. closing on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends, the Government Operations Committee recommended midnight on weekdays and 1 a.m. on weekends, each an hour earlier than current closing times. Committee members said the proposed closing hours would prevent bar patrons from leaving before 2 a.m....

The beast guarding the entrance to the home of Fred "the Hammer" Williamson is named Cobra, portentously, after a malt liquor. But the canine sentry skips the bared-fangs routine and, as if awakened from a nap, acknowledges the intruder with the merest of shrugs. Cobra, "the macho Shih Tzu," can't be bothered with reporters. His master, the athlete-turned-filmmaker, is more accommodating. Williamson is anxious to promote his new action picture, "Original Gangstas," which opened Friday, and he's ready...

Beer lovers sampling a new brew may not realize how much they've had until it's too late. Here, according to "The Beer Lover's Rating Guide" (Workman Publishing; $9.95), is the alcohol range--in ascending order--of 10 styles of beer travelers may encounter (for comparison, U.S. light is 2.3-3.5%, regular European or U.S. lager is 3.1-4.3% and malt liquor is 4.4-6%): Ale....................2.5-6.0% Pilsener...............3.2-4.4% Porter.................3.4-5.0% Stout.

Can anyone doubt that residents of the Austin neighborhood on the West Side were perfectly justified in their anger over those vulgarity-laden stickers attached to snack food products sold to children in their neighborhood? And after similar experiences with marketers of cigarettes, malt liquor, grain alcohol, juice in flasks and other such products, is it any wonder that residents of neighborhoods like Austin feel dumped on and discriminated against? "We are tired," said Leola Spann,...

A year after G. Heileman Brewing Co. was forced to withdraw PowerMaster malt liquor because of charges that it was targeting minorities, a smaller brewer from Cincinnati is attempting to turn the minority issue to its advantage. The maker of the new Mt. Everest malt liquor, which went on sale in Chicago last month, Tuesday unveiled a list of promises to the black community here, ranging from a commitment to hiring primarily African-Americans to donating 25 cents per case to various...

The beer that made Milwaukee famous and the brew made in God's Country nearly got together under the same roof in 1981. But the planned merger of Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co. and G. Heileman Brewing Co., which brews Old Style, didn't go through. A year later, Stroh Brewery gobbled up Schlitz, including the regular Schlitz brand and the malt liquor of the same name. Now it looks like Heileman and Stroh will team up to create the fourth-biggest domestic brewer,...

The Minnesota Council of Churches has joined Native American activists in seeking to ban sale of a malt liquor named Crazy Horse, claiming the brand name is highly offensive. Crazy Horse has an honored position as a political and religious leader in Oglala Lakota history, making it inappropriate to put the chief's name on a product that has had a destructive influence on American Indian communities, critics claim. The move would be as bad as putting the pope's name on...

Crazy Horse malt liquor has been banned in Minnesota under a state law that generally prohibits the sale of malt liquor named after American Indian leaders, the Public Safety Department announced Sunday. Crazy Horse Malt Liquor is produced by the G. Heileman Brewing Co. of La Crosse, Wis., and the Hornell Brewing Co. of New York City. State officials moved to ban it following protests from American Indian groups and the estate of the late Sioux leader, whose name in Lakota was Tasunke Witko.